Stereo Creative has announced the appointment of Chris Hare as joint managing director.

Joining from Ogilvy One, Hare will lead client services and strategy at Stereo and will work on existing clients such as the BBC, Birkenstock and Getty Images as well as new business.

He said: "It gives me great pleasure to join the talented team here who are already leading the way in content marketing with the excellent creative work they produce for many big brands. Our clients' needs are changing and growing all the time. They are craving new and exciting ways to engage, inspire and convince their own customers and we're very excited to be helping them do this."

"We are delighted to welcome Chris during a period of unprecedented growth for Stereo, “ added Andrew Duff, Joint MD and founder. “In the past year, we've seen our clients putting content at the heart of their plans, and with Chris onboard we're we'll positioned to deliver in this area. We're adding strategic planning and better client service to the mix and we hope to welcome some exciting new clients too.”

Prior to Ogilvy One, Hare held senior management roles at Gyro, including managing director and VP of international client services.

Dulux owner Akzo Nobel UK has appointed Initials Marketing to handle its below-the-line account following a competitive pitch.

The agency will create retail and trade campaigns for the decorative paints and chemicals manufacturer, which also includes brands such as Cuprinol and Hammerite in its business.

Richard Barrett, managing director at Initials, said: “Our strategy will be to encourage people to reassess both their inside and outdoor spaces in a completely different way. We aim to break the mould of how pain manufacturers traditionally provide just inspiration.

“The opportunity to work on such an iconic brand as Dulux, as well as the complete range of both retail and trade brands in the Akzo portfolio, gives us scope to inject creativity in a market which has generally been very traditional in its approach.”

The agency will report to Stephen Edwards, senior marketing manager for professional customer and communications at Akzo, who said the company was aiming to drive growth for consumer and trade brands with the appointment.

Mornflake, the cereal makers, has unveiled the creative for a TV sponsorship campaign around the new series of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.

The deal, brokered by Inspirational Inc and Media Clarity, has seen Mornflake branded 15, 10 and five second bumper credits for each of the 60 minute shows in the ITV1 primetime slot and their repeats, as well as five second bumper credits on ITV Player.

The pun-heavy creative, also developed by Inspirational Inc and The Gate films, has featured seven products from the Mornflake portfolio, each of which have been given characters that are interviewed in a replica of the Piers Morgan studio.

“Appearing on one of ITV’s flagship programmes was the ideal opportunity to showcase the Mornflake range to a wider audience,” explained Inspirational Inc founder and managing director Rupert Cade.

“The challenge to our creative team was to capture the diversity of Mornflake’s portfolio in limited time slots whilst maximizing impact and I am confident that we have achieved that.”

Piers Morgan’s Life Stories airs this Friday, 20 September, and runs for six weeks.

Websites which allow children to access pornography will have payments to them blocked by banks and credit card companies as part of government plans.

According to The Telegraph, the government plans, which look to help clean up the internet, will see a voluntary deal struck with credit card firms to help tackle sites that allow children to view legal but explicit pornography.

However, it was suggested that the government would not rule out legislation on the issue, if required.

While some websites require users to verify their age, others do not and provide open access.

This move comes months after PM David Cameron announced that online porn will be blocked by internet providers unless the account holder states otherwise, in a move which also looked to stop children viewing explicit material.

While credit card providers already monitor illegal porn providers and contact the authorities about activity, if this new move between the government and financial sector does go ahead, this will be the first time agreed to punish sites that show images that are legal, but that do nothing to keep them from children.

VisitBlackpool is launching a new campaign encouraging people to share their best Blackpool moment.

Code Computerlove has created a competition app and microsite to accompany the campaign, allowing users to upload images or videos of their fondest memories of the town resort.

In return, members of the public will be in with a change to win a trip to Blackpool, tickets to see Union J at the town’s Winter Gardens or a goodie bag.

Neil Greaves, Marketing Blackpool digital manager, said: “The campaign is designed to encourage word of mouth recommendation through fun and highly sharable user generated content and engage wider audiences within social channels.”

The campaign will run until 10 November, throughout Blackpool’s illuminations season.

MEC has appointed MoneySupermarket’s former head of SEO and social media, Ben McKay, as managing director of organic performance.

McKay, who in 2011 held the position of SEO director at MEC, has been tasked leading a team of 40 in the agency’s Organic Performance team across the Manchester and London offices to develop insight and high-value content marketing executions to increase online visibility for MEC clients.

McKay, who said he was “delighted” to be rejoining the agency, reports to Mick Style, managing director, MEC Manchester. Style said: “He brings a fantastic perspective of client-side experience from leading one of the most well respected online content marketing teams. He has an enviable reputation and is the right person to drive our Organic Performance services through their next stage of development. Not least, he’s also a great guy to have back in the team.”

McKay’s work as head of organic performance at MoneySupermarket saw him develop a strategic vision to improve online visibility, which ultimately led to significant revenue growth for the price comparison site.

Tim Duncan, the current head of PR at Seymourpowell, has announced his departure from the firm to set up his own PR consultancy.

Explaining his decision to leave, he said: “After four years of running an integrated external communications function, mixing both traditional PR with social media and online community management, I'm in a good position to move on to the next phase of my career and feel excited about the opportunity I have in becoming an independent PR consultant.

“This venture is a natural next step for me and I'm certainly looking forward to the challenge. I have a passion for effective communications and for working with talented people from across the creative industries and beyond. In the first instance I will specialise in creative sectors including design and innovation, marketing and the arts, and will be able to share more details in due course.”

Duncan, who leaves Seymourpowell today, 20 September, said he was particularly proud of his work in support of Design and Technology (D&T) education, including the ongoing partnership Seymourpowell has with the V&A schools program.

He will be starting work for three industry clients from 1 October while his colleague, Erin Smith, has been promoted to the head position at Seymourpowell.

Tanqueray, the award-winning gin brand from parent company Diageo, has launched a new website designed and built by creative agency Love.

Love’s brief was to create a design that would provide an optimal viewing experience for consumers across a range of devices.

“Tanqueray has always been a benchmark of quality in the world of gin and premium spirits and the website was in need of a full rebuild to match this status,” explained Graeme Rutherford, creative digital strategist at Love.

He said: “The existing site was built back in the days of Flash sites (remember them?) so we were tasked with creating a fully responsive, fully content-managed site – something that would show off their beautiful bottles and serves to visitors on all devices.”

As well as pulling together the Tanqueray social media community – Twitter and Facebook – the website homepage also showcases the range of Tanqueray products with serving suggestions and video footage.

The website is Diageo’s first responsive site for a single brand, with a localised version being launched in the UK, USA and Spain with a separate version for the rest of the world.

Just Eat, the online takeaway ordering service, has promoted Lucy Milne to become its first UK marketing director.

Milne, who joined the company in December 2011, was previously head of trade marketing. Before that she held marketing and commercial management roles at Orange, leading the retail product and marketing team.

In her new role, Milne will oversee an enlarged marketing team including a UK brand manager, a UK digital manager and a replacement head of trade marketing.

Mat Braddy, CMO of Just Eat Group, said: "At Just Eat, we are making a clear commitment to strengthening our position in the countries we are already in.

"With Lucy’s matchless knowledge of winning the battle for the UK high street, her leadership of the brand in our most important market will go a long way towards achieving that.”

Just Eat works with more than 18,000 takeaway restaurants in the UK and last year launched a major television advertising drive dubbed Don't Cook, Just Eat.

Starcom, a division of the Starcom MediaVest Group, has announced two senior appointments; Eva Powell has been brought in as head of strategy while Sabino Petruccelli has joined the agency as head of performance marketing.

Powell has joined Starcom from MPG Media Contacts, where she was strategy director. Prior to that, she held the same role at Vizeum UK, working on clients including Innocent, Channel Five and Discovery Networks.

Meanwhile Petruccelli has over 10 years of global media and marketing experience, having previously worked at OMD Australia in Sydney for six years, returning to London in 2012 as business director at OMD UK.

Powell has been tasked with devising the strategic direction of the division’s entire client portfolio as she works with the media agency’s planning department while, as head of performance marketing, Petruccelli has become responsible for expanding the performance function and supporting Starcom's client base in driving performance driven opportunities.

Both report to Pippa Glucklich, managing director of SMV, who said: “We’re delighted to have Eva and Sabino on board as we continue grow the Starcom brand. Our strategy and performance teams are intrinsic to delivering the best results to our clients and creating invaluable human experiences for consumers.”

The appointments follow the recent announcement that Isabelle Baas would be joining the agency as digital director.

Burberry pulled in 68 per cent of social buzz by brand during London Fashion Week, but it also led for purchase power, with 53 per cent of those talking about buying a brand mentioning Burberry.

The research, carried out by Way To Blue, discovered that during the February show, propensity to purchase, based on brand share of voice, was almost equal from Burberry, Topshop and Mulberry, standing at 35, 31 and 31 per cent respectively.

However, London Fashion Week changed these figures, with Burberry now accounting for over half, while Topshop sits at 27 per cent and Mulberry at 20 per cent.

Daniel Heale, associate director of social for Way To Blue, said: “While any brand welcomes high levels of buzz, the volume of people expressing intent to buy Burberry is a great achievement for the brand. It shows the brand is not only connecting with lots of people on social through London Fashion Week, but most importantly, connecting with the right ones for their products and growing their share of the conversation.

“Whilst lots of agencies are reporting on brand buzz levels very few are able to understand what this means in terms of driving sales. We’re pleased to have taken some significant steps towards uncovering this relationship through the extensive work we’ve conducted with film and entertainment clients over the past few years.”

The overall share of brand buzz itself also changed from being a two-horse race between Burberry and Topshop to Burberry holding over two thirds of the buzz.

It’s been hard to choose what should make this week’s Marketing Weak - there are a few belters doing the rounds. In fact, you might even notice that this is a few days later than normal (but if you didn’t notice, it’s not. Honest).

However, because we’re a nice bunch, we put aside our own suggestions and plumped for the ad put forward by one of our lovely tweeters, Dan. Full name omitted in case he gets lynched by Jackpot Joy, who he begged to win because “It's the only award this dreadful ad deserves.”

Dan, this one goes out to you. Altogether now - stuff, stuff, money, money, stuff, stuff…

Publicis Groupe yesterday announced that it acquired digital agency Poke for an undisclosed sum in a deal which Results said would ‘satisfy’ both Publicis and Omnicom, which it recently merged with.

Discussing the deal, Keith Hunt, managing partner at Results International, merger and acquisition advisers for the marketing communications and adtech space, said: “The Publicis acquisition of Poke is an excellent reminder that despite the recent ‘merger of equals’ with Omnicom it’s business as usual on the acquisition front. Clearly there will be much effort behind the scenes to ensure that the integration of the two networks runs smoothly but it’s encouraging to see a continued energy and appetite to focus on suitable acquisition targets. The networks’ shareholders should be well satisfied.

“Following the high profile LBi and AKQA deals of 2012, there is a shrinking pool of sizeable independent digital agencies. This transaction demonstrates that there is still considerable appetite for such agencies that remain. Let us hope that the merger will deliver on its intended value and that Poke can be successfully integrated with other digital agencies in the group including LBi and Chemistry.

“Cultural clashes and turf wars can prevent post-integration plans from being properly executed. Different systems and processes, dilution of each company's identity and brand, overestimation of synergies and lack of understanding of each other’s businesses can easily destroy the best laid intentions. The ultimate impact is a loss of shareholder value and a drop in stock price. There’s no denying that Publicis faces a huge integration challenge on all fronts. It can only be assumed that this latest acquisition shows that it is supremely confident in rising to this challenge.”

It is not expected that the acquisition will lead to any redundancies.

The Daily Mirror has relaunched today, billing itself as "the intelligent tabloid".

A cheeky Nokia tweet poking fun at its rival Apple has gone down as one of the most retweeted brand tweets ever.

During Apple's much-hyped launch event for its new iPhones earlier this month, Nokia momentarily stole the limelight with a timely tweet pointing out the similarity between the newly unveiled iPhone 5s colour phones and its own range of bright designs.

The two-word tweet from Nokia's UK account - "Thanks, #Apple" - accompanied by a picture declaring "Imitation is the best form of flattery" quickly went viral and has since garnered an astonishing 38,000 retweets. A Twitter staffer has confirmed that puts it in the top echelons of marketing tweets in the site's history.

Thanks, #Apple ;) pic.twitter.com/x4w3r8Ghcy— Nokia UK (@nokia_uk) September 10, 2013

Oliver Snoddy, Twitter's head of planning, told a conference last week: "This tweet got more retweets than Oreo's 'Dunk in the dark' tweet from the Super Bowl." The Oreo tweet, which capitalised brilliantly on a power cut during America's most watched sporting spectacle, is often heralded as the definitive example of what is being dubbed 'moment marketing'.

On a night when ads on the CBS TV network were being sold for as much as £2.5m, Oreo became one of the Super Bowl's most talked-about brands without having to pay a penny. The cookie brand's quick thinking message on Twitter was rewarded with almost 16,000 retweets and the kind of fawning newsprint coverage that paid-up advertisers could only dream of.

Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC— Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013

But having scored more than double that number of retweets with its iPhone backhander, Nokia's UK social media team can now boast about not just stealing Apple's thunder - but Oreo's too.

Controversial Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has told the company's annual general meeting that the budget airline should "try to eliminate things that unnecessarily piss people off".

In a marked change of tack for a brand that has become infamous for its aversion to customer service, O'Leary pledged to stop fining passengers who narrowly exceed the carrier's strict baggage size allowance and introduce a new website and team to respond to customers' email complaints.

Speaking at the firm's AGM in Dublin yesterday, O'Leary said: "A lot of those customer services elements don’t cost a lot of money… It’s something we are committed to addressing over the coming year."

This from the man who once memorably declared: "People say the customer is always right, but you know what - they're not."

O'Leary's volte face came as the company was voted as having the worst customer service out of Britain's 100 biggest brands in a survey conducted by Which?, the consumer magazine.

But while O'Leary's attitude to customers may have softened, the company is evidently not yet willing to surrender its no-nonsense way of dealing with public relations judging by its response to the Which findings.

The company this morning posted a statement on its Twitter feed dismissing Which's "useless survey of 3,300 people, including their pet hamsters, gerbils and goldfish".

Ryanair's Robin Kiely said: "We surveyed over 3m passengers on the Ryanair website last night - only two of them had ever heard of Which and none of them had ever bought or read it."

Apple's latest iPhone was launched to trademark fanfare yesterday, with huge queues of people snaking outside the stores waiting to get their hands on the new 5c device.

But seemingly the queues were just too big for some people who didn't fancy waiting in line. Reports from California suggest a man hired homeless people to queue on his behalf outside a store in Pasadena.

However the plan backfired as the man was mobbed for not paying his recruits, two homeless men were arrested for fighting and a third was detained under mental health laws.

The scenes were less chaotic elsewhere in the world where Apple fanatics queued patiently to be among the first to own the new hardware.

A report on Cnet suggested the lines in New York and San Francisco had at least matched or were up on last year according to a tally by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Sales figures are not expected to be released until Monday, when Apple will give the first indications as to how its new devices are selling.

Just 24 hours since its launch, the iPhone 5c is being sold on eBay for as much as £2000.

A 16-year-old has become the first person to be arrested in China under the country's controversial anti-gossip law.

The teenager, whose identity has not been revealed, appears to be the first victim of the newly-imposed limits over what can be said online.

China's supreme court has warned that anyone spreading a rumour online would face three years in prison if more than 5,000 people see it or 500 repost it. The measures have been criticised for their potential to suppress free speech.

According to the Beijing Times, the boy was arrested for posting criticisms on social network Weibo over the police's handling of a death in the community.

Footballers and managers took part in the rainbow laces campaign on Saturday in support of stamping out homophobia in the game.

The campaign was launched by LGBT equality charity Stonewall in partnership with bookies Paddy Power.

It has been well received on Twitter despite the refusal of the Premier League and the FA to officially get involved, citing lack of consultation and sensitive commercial issues due to the bookies involvement. Some of the countries biggest clubs, including Manchester United, did not take part.

Meanwhile, another organisation, Football v Homophobia, declined to support the campaign because it felt the language of the campaign – called ‘Right Behind Gay Footballers’ – reinforced stereotypes often passed off as ‘banter’.

However, Stonewall told the BBC it chose to involve Paddy Power because it spoke “the language of fans and players” and said the message of the campaign was clear.

Queens Park Rangers midfielder and outspoken tweeter Joey Barton got behind the campaign along with a host of others.

Rocking rainbow laces on @clarebalding show last night. Not just about players, supporters too can lace up! #RBGF pic.twitter.com/PyMq6Q4clK

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) September 20, 2013

Listened to @gareththomas14 on TalkSport. Presenters debating whether laces can cause 'technical issues' with players boots?

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) September 20, 2013

Well, I have worn them in two matches now and trust me there are no technical issues. If you don't want to support at least have the...

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) September 20, 2013

..balls to say so. Hate it when people use little things as a cop out. Thankfully, it looks like most are secure enough within to support.

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) September 20, 2013

Some Premier League clubs didn't get enough notice to change their laces. Really? Ok then, here’s our guide #RBGF pic.twitter.com/lONz6G9cEx

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 20, 2013

Phil Jagielka and other players will be wearing the rainbow laces today to kick homophobia out of football #efcwhu pic.twitter.com/PMQivsfxD3

— Official Everton (@Everton) September 21, 2013

232,851,618 <- number of times tweets containing #RBGF have appeared to Twitter users since last Sunday. People talking. Attitudes changing.

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 21, 2013

Alan Pardew celebrates Loic Remy's goal. The manager is wearing Rainbow Laces in support of @stonewalluk #RBGF #NUFC pic.twitter.com/FjUry0nGxB

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFCOfficial) September 21, 2013

@DavidGinolaCeze and the rest of the boys are wearing @stonewalluk rainbow laces today #btsFootball #RBGF pic.twitter.com/QPLLoRiLdQ

— BT Sport (@BTSport) September 21, 2013

Thanks to @paddypower for getting some #rbgf rainbow laces to me. Yes my footwear is weird, medicinal reasons pic.twitter.com/CfCpdRfL0O

— Ian Stringer (@StringerSport) September 21, 2013

Wearing the Rainbow Laces for today's game #RBGF pic.twitter.com/RI4Q1D2pav

— Danny Simpson (@dannysimpson) September 21, 2013

Captain @seanmorrison_91 is wearing Rainbow Laces today as an ambassador for the club @StonewallUK #rainbowlaces pic.twitter.com/nafonrI3Wb

— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) September 21, 2013

Dear @stonewalluk every member of the afc Wimbledon squad, plus management and refs are wearing them. We're #rbgf pic.twitter.com/f52VLl1ZzG

— Zoë L****** (@samesizedfeet) September 21, 2013

Also I was wearing my rainbow laces today against Newcastle to support #RBGF with @paddypower @stonewalluk pic.twitter.com/QZB5Km0zWa

— David J. Meyler (@DavidMeyler7) September 21, 2013

Robert Snodgrass & Ricky van Wolfswinkel show support by wearing Rainbow Laces. Shame on Guzan for saving the pen! pic.twitter.com/V7ju4B0Gtx

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 21, 2013

Fulham's keeper, David Stockdale, wore rainbow-coloured shoe laces v. Chelsea in a campaing against homophobia pic.twitter.com/3fqnwmu7A0

— The Rising Blues (@StamfordTweet) September 22, 2013

An incredible day! Huge thanks to thousands of fans, players and clubs who are #RBGF. Let's keep the momentum going! pic.twitter.com/KYTLKh6A4u

— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) September 21, 2013

Privacy concerns have been raised after it emerged that mobile phone companies have been passing data to the Highways Agency allowing them to monitor motorists’ movements through their phone signals.

The agency has been using data from phone companies and other firms to track the information, including collecting data collated by satnav systems, prompting serious questions about the protection of personal data.

According to the Telegraph, the Highways Agency said any information it receives is confidential and could not lead to the identification of motorists, but privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said people were unlikely to have any idea that information was exchanged in this way and called for a less intrusive method to monitor traffic.

The agency is using the information in two trials, one of which uses dated information to try and track traffic trends and the other uses real time data to help manage current flow and congestion. The first trial is being piloted on the M25.

Last month, similar concerns were raised over how smartphone signals are tapped into by companies without users’ knowledge when it emerged that Renew London had fitted recycling bins in the city with technology tracking smartphones, allowing marketers to target advertising more specifically.